Bought a few boxes of Brown Bear (made in Russia) 115 gr 9mm ammo. Shoots well. When I was trying to reload the cases, the pin in the sizing die kept releasing to the top. Looked inside the case and there are three micro holes and the center one not nearly big enough for the pin to go through to pop the primer out. Bummer, have 10 boxes of this stuff I can't reload. I wonder how many other ammo is like this.
Brown Bear 9mm not reloadable
- Thread starter MikeO89
- Start date
azredhawk44
Moderator
Probably not a brass case, either.
It'll ruin your dies if you resize non-brass cases.
That, and they won't resize the same way brass will. Steel will spring back out since it is fairly elastic and will be too large after resizing. Aluminum cases will be weakened by the working process.
It'll ruin your dies if you resize non-brass cases.
That, and they won't resize the same way brass will. Steel will spring back out since it is fairly elastic and will be too large after resizing. Aluminum cases will be weakened by the working process.
MikeO89 with the exception of some of the Wolf poly coated steel case ammo like .223 and 45ACP the majority of steel case and lacquer cases will be berdan primed. Berdan primed cases actually only have two flash holes in the bottom of the case,the tiny indention between them is made by the mfg process that creates the anvil on the inside of the primer pocket.
The Berdan primer was actually invented by an American Hiram Berdan,but used by the Europeans. The boxes primer was invented by Edward Boxer an Englishman but are mainly used by US ammo makers. Berdan primers and cases are easier to mfg. but harder to reload as far as tools go and come in many different sized as compared to the four main primer sized used in US ammo.
9mm brass is plentiful check with your local shooting range for once fired brass,also be aware that 9mm military once fired brass will have crimped in primer,they usually knock out easy but require you to cut the crimp out using your deburring tool.
The Berdan primer was actually invented by an American Hiram Berdan,but used by the Europeans. The boxes primer was invented by Edward Boxer an Englishman but are mainly used by US ammo makers. Berdan primers and cases are easier to mfg. but harder to reload as far as tools go and come in many different sized as compared to the four main primer sized used in US ammo.
9mm brass is plentiful check with your local shooting range for once fired brass,also be aware that 9mm military once fired brass will have crimped in primer,they usually knock out easy but require you to cut the crimp out using your deburring tool.
shooter_from_show-me
New member
Shoot it up and go find some cheap Federal or WWB ammo at your local WalMart
Freight_Train
New member
ummm,if you don't know how to tell reloadable brass from shoot and leave steel berdan primed brass then you need to STOP RELOADING NOW.Read up some book before touching a press.You don't have a clue what your doing and risk killing yourself.You need to do some research and learning before you just start sizing and filling cases.
shooter_from_show-me
New member
Not trying to make you feel bad. But I bought 22 boxes within 3 visits of the store, Federal 9mm that are reloadable from Wally World at $9.97/box about 4 months ago. I'd figure $6-7 would be a good deal on steel cased ammo
mustang66maniac
New member
x2
Not to be a dick, but you need to stop reloading and pick up "The ABCs of Reloading" and learn some more.
Freight_Train
New member
Yea,I hope I didn't come across as a dick myself.Reloading ain't "Easy".I have made mistakes and nearly cause major bodily harm.Too much powder and you will blow the gun up and anything close by.Too little powder and you can blow the gun up cause of flash burning or squibs.It would appear you didn't inspect the cases and although it is a guess didn't clean them.Brass has a life span and not all cases live the same amount.Some can only be loaded 1 or 2 times.Some can last a dozen times.All the same head stamp and batch.
I fully agree that every new reloader should read a good manual that gives advice on how to reload and not just one that gives load data only. However, we all had to start somewhere. He's new, he's learning, and he's figured out that not all cases are reloadable before something bad happened. No harm, no foul. Cut the guy some slack.
berdan primed brass
Mike089, welcome to reloading. Trying to deprime berdan primed brass is a common mistake. There are quite a few different military surplus brass cases that are berdan primed. I've heard of people breaking decapping pins off trying to deprime them. Just think of it as a lesson learned. The hard part is throwing all of those beautiful cases in the scrap bin, because you can't use them. I hate when that happens!! Good luck and stay safe.
Mike089, welcome to reloading. Trying to deprime berdan primed brass is a common mistake. There are quite a few different military surplus brass cases that are berdan primed. I've heard of people breaking decapping pins off trying to deprime them. Just think of it as a lesson learned. The hard part is throwing all of those beautiful cases in the scrap bin, because you can't use them. I hate when that happens!! Good luck and stay safe.
Mike, I would like to add that it IS possible to reload Berdan primed cases. There is a special tool which pops the primers out similar to a bottlecap. Once you pop the primers out you need a Primer Pocket Reamer to remove what remains of the crimp. At that point you can continue your loading process with the hard to find Berdan primers. The decapping tool is about $50 and the primers much more than that I would think. More info can be found here http://www.dave-cushman.net/shot/berdan_supplies_dimensions.html. But of course this is assuming that the casing is still Brass.